“Laugh all you want girls, but I got the real deal in Ace.”
“More like the real limited time deal.” Kennedy holds my gaze a moment too long.
“Are you cruising for a bruising?” I’m only half teasing. I’m not above going street on her ass right here in the princess lounge.
“Calm down. I’m just saying you can change that. Once summer wraps up, tell him you’d like an extension on your contract. If you play your cards right and blow him away, then he’ll practically beg to keep you around.”
I mull it over a second, giving her a pass on the BJ innuendo. Anyway, checking Kennedy on the corruption that comes from her mouth is pretty much useless. There are no bounds to Kennedy’s crudeness.
“File an extension huh?” I look over at my raunchy stepsister. “Way to make my love life sound like an unpleasant IRS transaction.”
“Nevertheless”—Kennedy rolls her head over her neck—“make sure you’re good in bed. That way he’ll come back for more.”
Brylee moans in agreement. “I bet Joanna Knickerbocker is brilliant in bed.” She shakes her head in disgust. “I bet she swallows.”
Kennedy jolts to an upright position as if Brylee just spewed some serious insanity around the room. “You spit?”
“You swallow?” Brylee matches her tone for tone.
“Would you both knock it off?” I hiss. “You’re causing a spermtacular scene. If you don’t keep it down, they’ll ejaculate us right out of here.”
Kennedy rolls her eyes. “Well, it’s either or sister. If I were you, I’d make up my mind right now where your lingual loyalties lie.” She glances up at the ceiling a moment. “And no matter what—make sure you kiss him after. That’s the test of a real man.”
Brylee groans at the visual, and I let out a breath. Because sometimes, there’s just nothing left to say.
Kennedy’s phone goes off, and her affect brightens. “Well, looky here.” She wags it in my face a moment. “A text from Warren McCarthy. Bring Reese by the office around five. I have a killer surprise. Don’t tell her.” Kennedy annunciates each word before punching something into her cell and hitting send.
“What did you say?” The words speed out of me in a panic. She’s all over the place today no thanks to Keith and his insatiable urge for body shots.
“I told him I’d have you there with bells on.” She gleams a black smile, and my heart sinks. “That I wouldn’t say a word.”
“Perfect.” I’m plotting my revenge already. I sense a tragic separation in the works for her favorite pair of Prada shoes. It wouldn’t be the first right-footed heel I’ve used as a paperweight.
Brylee bubbles out a laugh as the attendants start in on our pedicures. “Looks like someone has a date with her ‘boyfriend’ tonight.”
“I guess tonight’s the night, then.” I swallow hard then glare at Kennedy for ruining a simple bodily function for me.
Spit or swallow. I shake my head. I don’t know what I’ll do when I get to that point with Ace. But I do know what I’m doing with Warren tonight, and it doesn’t even remotely involve procreation or any of its liquid facets.
“Prepare to comfort him, girls,” I purr. “Tomorrow morning, Warren McCarthy is going to have a serious case of the break-up blues.”
Then, maybe, Ace and I can take things to a deeper level. Maybe Ace will give me that relationship extension sooner than I think.
I sink into my seat and try to relax as the attendant scrubs my feet like she’s sloughing Warren, himself, off my body.
I push all thoughts of Warren McCarthy and our “date” right out of my mind. Instead, I think of Ace and lose myself with the only pressing decision I want to have at the moment, and that just so happens to involve my gag reflex.
After hours of primping and pampering and having our hair and makeup done to the hilt, we reconvene in Kennedy’s Range Rover and prepare for the long drive home.
Kennedy leans into the rearview mirror and makes a face. “On a scale of Mother Teresa to transvestite, what do you think?”
“Oh, hon”—Brylee gives a guttural laugh—“just mentioning yourself in the same breath as Mother Teresa is an unforgivable sin.”
“You would know,” she counters. “Anyway it doesn’t matter. Unlike Reese here, I won’t have two men vying for my affection tonight.”
Ace runs through my mind, our secret hideaway in the woods—Gavin’s boathouse—chocolate. This summer is rife with delicious secrets. I can hardly wait to see him tonight. Maybe I should do something amazing for him? Take him somewhere and show him a good time.
Kennedy drives for a few minutes before pulling into a parking spot and not until I look out the window do I realize what she’s up to.
“Shit,” I mutter, staring at the tall office building of Westfield and McCarthy. It sits nestled in a hub of skyscrapers in downtown Collingsworth. The gilded sign with my family’s surname right next to Warren’s sits prominent on the outside, and just the sight inspires a roll of nausea to push through me. I forgot all about my breakup date with Warren. I spot Dad’s black sedan gleaming in the early evening light, and, for whatever it’s worth, it adds a safety measure.
“Let’s get this over with,” Brylee huffs as she gets out of the car. You’d think she were the one responsible for twisting Warren’s balls off in the next few hours the way she exemplified exactly how I felt.
I glare over at Kennedy a moment. “I’ll deal with you later.”
“You’ll thank me later.”
As if.
We get out and head into the air-conditioned building where Daddy waits to greet us down in the reception area.
Odd.
“Hey, hey, the gang’s all here.” He pulls all three of us into an embrace, and I take in his spiced cologne. Dad has always been kind to Bry. Brylee feels every bit as much family as Kennedy if not more. “Rumor has it one of you lucky ladies has something special waiting for her on the rooftop. Shall we?” He teases just as the elevator opens, and we hop inside.
“The roof?” I shoot a quick look to Kennedy and Brylee. What the hell could be happening on a rooftop? Could Warren be threatening a swan dive off a twenty-four story office building? Not likely. Plus, I doubt my father would be grinning like a goof at the thought, also we’re lacking an entire emergency response squad, so there’s that. Whatever the hell it is, this isn’t going to end well. Rooftops and breakups never go hand in hand.
“Promise me something.” Daddy pulls me in by the shoulders. “You’ll have the time of your life tonight?”
“Oh, I will,” I assert. Just as soon as I get back home and finish off the evening with Ace. Although technically I plan on gifting Ace the time of his life. In about an hour, I hope to have no memory of this rooftop experience. Besides, I suddenly have a severe craving for heady kisses and chocolate, and they both involve Ace.
The doors whoosh open, and an obnoxious pelting sound thumps through my skull.
Dad escorts us out, and to my fucking horror, I spot Warren standing fifty feet in front of a helicopter that looks as if it’s ready to whisk us away at a moment’s notice.
“Oh, no.” I grip onto the nearest hand, which happens to belong to Kennedy.
“Oh, yes!” My father proudly chides.
Warren comes over in his neat three-piece suit, his hair slicked back with a heavy polish. His strong, tangy cologne permeates the area before he does. He pulls me into a hard embrace and lands a wet, sloppy kiss on the side of my cheek.
“You ready to be whisked away on a magical mystery date?” He barks out a laugh as if it wasn’t a question at all.
Dad slaps him on the back and offers me a quick hug.
“Beverly and I have taken care of everything. I one hundred percent approve of this outing.” He clamps his hand over mine. I wonder if he would have approved of Ace and the outing we had last night—any outing with Ace for that matter. “Go and have the time of your life. Make some great memories.” He gives a quick wink to
Warren before leading Kennedy and Brylee back toward the elevator.
No, no, no!
Brylee turns and gives a solemn wave. Kennedy glances back and rolls her eyes.
Just crap. This is worse than I could have imagined. It was going to be difficult enough having to tell him that we should see other people, as in never see one another again, while I thought Kennedy was going to be waiting for me out in the hall. I sort of envisioned Kennedy and Brylee taking me out for margaritas after because that’s what girls do once they sever ties to a longtime tagalong that the world thinks she’s dating—get shitfaced with tequila. Okay, so maybe we were dating a little bit.
“Let’s get moving.” Warren pulls me all the way to the helicopter, and before I know it, I’m buckling up and throwing on a pair of headphones so I can communicate with both the pilot and my soon-to-be ex-boyfriend.
Perfect. In the event I was afraid I wouldn’t have an audience when I told Warren I didn’t love him, the universe has now solved that problem, too.
We rise through the sky and wobble our way over Collingsworth. I pretend to marvel at how miniaturized everything looks when all I really want to do is shove Warren and his goofy grin out the window. Although, I suppose if it were Ace next to me, I’d be venerating his efforts for gifting me with a luxury date of aerial proportions, so I cut Warren some slack in that department.
And a break up in the sky? Really? Maybe I’ll be the one parachuting to earth without the proper equipment to get me there safely. Warren could easily plead insanity, and God knows he’s got the backing of a topnotch legal team—hell, my own father might even vouch for him. Obviously, I’ll have to wait until we land.
We’re probably just going to take a quick tour of the city. Dad took our family and the McCarthy’s on one of these a few years back, and I remember thinking it went by pretty quick. One minute we were in the air, and the next thing I knew, we were landing, just like that. Only then we had a totally annoying couple in the back that kept making out, and Beverly offered to pay both Kennedy and me a hundred bucks each if we would stop turning around. Of course, Ken didn’t obey the almighty dollar, but I managed to parlay a nice pair of Ray Ban sunglasses out of the deal. I glance back in the event I missed the fact there’s a pair of lip-locking passengers taking the trip with us and jump when I spot my leopard print carry on nestled next to a duffle bag.
Holy. Shit.
“We’re just taking a quick tour of the city right?” I bleat into the mini mike that hovers around my lips like a bee.
“That and then some. Good deal, right?” Warren’s arm slithers around my waist and despite his effort to feel me up, I sigh with relief. I mean we’ve already seen half of Collingsworth in the time we’ve been in the air. If we race up the mountain, I could still squeeze in a nice picnic under the stars with Ace over Pleasure Point. Last night was the stuff that dreams are made of. I had no idea you could have a romantic time without sex being the main objective. It’s like being with Ace has already taught me so many things about love, and, yet, we’ve still got miles of great memories to make up ahead. I sigh dreamily, and Warren rewards me with an unwanted kiss.
Gah!
I pull back as a nervous smile twitches on my lips. I forgot how freely Warren doles out the kisses. In truth, I haven’t kissed him since we’ve come back this summer, and now that some time has passed, it feels a little foreign, more than a little intrusive. And why do I suddenly feel like I’m being held against my will?
The helicopter picks up speed, and we rise even higher until the city fades into a sea of haze. I bet we’re getting ready to land on top of some posh restaurant, and then I’ll fake being sick so we can put the kibosh on this quasi-kidnapping.
A shoreline crops up on our right, which indicates that both Collingsworth and Loveless are well behind us—hell, the entire state of Connecticut is turning into a tiny speck.
“What city exactly is it that we’re touring?” Why do I get the sick feeling I could have easily replaced city for country?
Warren slips his well-manicured hand over my knee before sinking it between my legs.
“We’re going to New York for the weekend, baby! Just you and me.” He offers a toothy grin, his tan skin is just this side of orange, and suddenly I want to vomit on his pricy Dolce and Gabbana patent leather shoes.
I carefully return his hand to his lap, but it springs back to my knee.
New York.
Something tells me I’ll have to pull off an Alcatraz-worthy escape to make it back to Loveless tonight.
Crap.
I am definitely not in a New York state of mind.
“This hotel is the shit!” Warren holds the door open for me as we step into the elevator. My head is still ringing from the sound of the rotors. My brain feels as if a hornet’s nest has dislodged in it. And despite the fact that I’ve got mild cramps and a migraine on the horizon, my mind is buzzing with a thousand clever ways to kill Warren and make it look like an accident. I swear if his fingers travel to my inner thighs, one more time, I’ll reenact the ball-breaking moves I employed on him just last week.
We step off onto the penthouse floor with plush navy carpeting as he wheels my suitcase down the posh hall toward a room with double doors.
“So what are you thinking? We’ll change and go to dinner?” My voice sounds like I’m hearing myself from the inside of a fishbowl.
Warren slips the plastic keycard into the door and gives a wicked grin in lieu of an answer.
“We are going back to Loveless tonight, right?” I insist because obviously I refuse to the let the hotel room and luggage offer me a clue.
“After you.” He holds out his hand, and I breeze past him into the darkened room. Warren picks up a remote and points it at the wall, and the room magically fills with the sound of a lovesick sax while a thousand electric candles illuminate the area, exposing an oversized loft-piled bed. In the center of the gargantuan space a table is set up for two with a pair of silver domes over it.
Oh, God.
I take in the opulent display as if it were a crime scene.
Ace had real candles at the boathouse, and the music came from our own hearts, our passion tore up the room, and the only thing we were hungry for was each other.
Warren manhandles another remote, and the fireplace roars to life like an untamed dragon.
“Nice touch.” I let out a helpless sigh and take in the surroundings once again. “Well, we’d better get to dinner I’m starved.” Maybe if I speed things along, I can wade my way through this nightmare and still make it to Loveless by midnight.
“First—a dance.” He snaps up my hand, and I make sure to maintain a comfortable distance. This is Warren after all. I’ve known him since we were babies, for as long as I’ve known Ace—funny how I sort of have polarized feelings for the two of them. I try to think of a time that Ace and I shared a dance, and not one occasion comes to mind. It breaks my heart. But it also gives me something to look forward to.
“What’s going through your mind?” Warren leans in and sniffs into my neck like a predator. He’s immaculate looking tonight with his power suit, his hair slicked back in thick, caramel waves, his fresh tan, even if it is a fake bake. I know for a fact there are a ton of girls who would sell all the eggs in their ovaries for a chance to shack up in New York for the night with Warren. It just so happens that I’m not one of them.
I pull back and take him in as he awaits my answer. I’m sure as hell not going to say Ace Waterman, but I want to.
“Just missing home, that’s all.” It’s the truth. I’ll have to tell Brylee I’m not allergic to it after all.
His hands sink past my waist and round out my bottom. He’s sending some pretty serious signals that I’m prepared to ignore.
“I don’t travel well.” I raise his hands an inch before they find a home in the hills and canyons he’s not welcome to.
“You’re still pissed about the other night.” His chest bumps as he huffs it o
ff. “Did you get the flowers?” He looks perplexed that I could still be angry after he followed up his failed penis plunge with the biggest bouquet that money could buy. Things went from horny to thorny in a single bound, sort of like they’re about to now.
“Look”—he knocks his head back exasperated—“that’s what New York is all about. I’m making it up to you.”
“Great.” I try my best to drag him over to the table. “Consider yourself forgiven. Now, let’s eat.”
I scurry to my seat and whip off the dome only to find my favorite crustacean staring back at me with the tail already neatly pieced off just waiting for me to give it a butter bath. I think Warren would have done miles better to have sent two dozen red lobsters instead of roses. If I were even mildly riding the fence, I might be swayed by deep-sea culinary delights, but I’ll take chocolate and wildflowers any day if it means I get Ace in the end.
“You sure know what I like.” I dig in. If I have to eat a sacrificial meal to spur this hostile takeover along I’m pretty damn glad it comes equipped with a shiny red spine and beady little eyes.
“Of course, I know what you like.” Warren reaches over and places his hand over mine just as I’m about to dive into the first golden delicious bite. “And I know what you need.” His eyes fix on mine, and now my appetite is waning. Why do I get the feeling I might want to save one of these claws for use once he starts chasing me around the furniture? “I’m all about giving you the best. We’re going to have an entire lifetime of this shit, Reese.” His jaw squares out. Warren looks like one of those underwear models they bronze out and blowup over Times Square. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only girl on the planet who’s not attracted to him. “You realize we’re not like other people. We’re so fucking lucky.” He shakes his head as he starts in on his meal.
I pop the luscious bite into my mouth and contemplate his theory. “I guess you’re right.” I don’t mind talking through a mouthful of food. In fact, the more I disgust Warren and kill any fantasy he might have of me being his plus one on any of his future hostile dinner takeovers, the better. “But I kind of like the simple life. Camping, a nice crackling fire, picnic baskets—massages.” Specifically the kind Ace gives with his tongue, but I leave that part out.